The court discussed for a while

The ministers reached a consensus and would negotiate with the Allies led by Foreign Minister Li Sixian to reach a deal on a package of matters such as labor, ship leasing, import of weapons such as aircraft and tanks, immigration arrangements (European women and children who fled).

Congress will introduce the Lease Act in a timely manner to give the green light to transactions.

The core content is to change islands to ships, mainly because the Royal Navy needs Atlantic islands, such as the Azores to Portugal, the Canary Islands to Spain, the Wallis and Futuna Islands of the French, the Saint Helena Islands of the British, etc., and it can also be some archipelagos in the Pacific or Central America, but the value is greatly reduced.

The Ocean Empire is not either side of the warring parties. If you give so many things, you will naturally have to exchange them equally. With the current cash shortage of the Allies, you will most likely not be able to afford it.

Therefore, the government will introduce such a proper solution to solve the current urgent needs of the Allies.

Although Germany has not attacked the merchant ships of neutral countries, it is merciless to the merchant ships of the Allied countries. The North Sea area with the British Isles as the core is a place where German submarine activities are rampant, and news of merchant ships being sunk constantly emerged.

From tens of thousands of tons per month at the beginning of the war to tens of thousands of tons of merchant ships per month today, the merchant fleets of the Allied countries have suffered more and more losses, and have accumulated more than 1.4 million tons of merchant ships. This is also the reason why they urgently need to escort ships, especially the 4,500-ton Brave-class cruisers are the most popular.

Because although this class of ships is old, they have the right tonnage and the disadvantage of unfast speed is sufficient with the merchant fleet, and the range is long enough and the price is low enough.

The Royal Navy has a total of 37 brave-class cruisers, all of which are required by the Allies.

In addition, there are 36 6,500-ton "Huayue" class cruisers and more than 90 2,300-ton class destroyers, all escort boats that the Allies urgently needed, which will greatly enhance the safety of Atlantic trade.

Building new ships, the Allies can't wait.

The Allies were not interested in the main battleships of the Royal Navy, because these ships were too large, too expensive, and had high operating costs. With the Allies firmly controlling the maritime power, the demand was not urgent, and few people were willing to pay this money in vain.

Perhaps Portugal will need one or two ships to maintain the security of overseas colonies.

Take a look at several important islands in the Atlantic Ocean

The first is the Azores, which belongs to Portugal. It is located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and consists of 9 major islands, about 1,450 kilometers away from the Portuguese coast. From the capital of Portugal, Lisbon, to the Azores, the cargo ship takes about three days to voyage.

In the 15th century, Portuguese navigators discovered the Azores. For a long time, the archipelago has been an important supply point for Atlantic routes. For three hundred years, these islands controlled most of the trade carried out by Europe, Africa, Asia, and America, and their geographical location was very important.

With the island, you can fully cover the central Atlantic route. The island has relatively complete dock facilities and towns. Naval bases are set up here, and warships can provide close escorts to the merchant fleet directly to Europe.

Due to the rich geothermal heat in the local area, not only do they have many hot spring lakes, but also use geothermal heat to cook vegetables. Mix rice, sausages or vegetables and put them in a wooden round barrel with holes around them. They can be steamed and cooked continuously for several hours in a steam tank, which tastes unique.

As a member of the Allies, Portugal's merchant fleet and naval ships were repeatedly attacked by German submarines, causing great losses and objectively having the possibility of reaching a deal.

In order to promote the urgently needed war materials for the Allies, as long as Britain, France and other countries promise to compensate after the war, it is very likely that Portugal will agree.

As an old colonial power, Britain, France and other countries have many good things in their pockets, not to mention that as long as they win the war, they can cut a piece of meat from the Ottomans or Austro-Hungarian Empire, it will be enough for Portugal to eat.

Just a small island, what should I do?

The second is the Canary Islands to which Spain belongs, which is slightly more difficult. Because Spain is a neutral country, its territory should not be invaded by both sides of the war.

The Canary Islands are located in the Atlantic Ocean, on the west coast of Africa. They are an autonomous region of Spain, more than 1,000 kilometers away from the Spanish mainland.

There are 7 large islands and several small islands here, divided into two groups of islands, east and west.

The tribe island group includes Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and 6 small islands, and the western island group includes Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Palma, Gomera and Ferro (also known as Jero).

In 1404, the French explorer Bettengu occupied Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Ferro with the support of Spain's King Henry III. In 1420, the Portuguese army occupied the islands of Gomera. In 1479, the Treaty of Alcasova assigned the sovereignty of the archipelago to Spain.

This is the most beautiful island in the Atlantic Ocean, with invincible beautiful scenery, like a paradise.

The tourism industry emerged decades later, with 15 million tourists visiting the Canary Islands every year, making it a world-class tourist resort. It is comparable to the Caribbean region.

Writer Sanmao and her husband Jose settled on Gran Canaria. She and Jose chose a house far from the city and spent the most romantic time of her life on the hillside not far from the valley on the island.

The third choice was the French Wallis and Futuna Islands, and European countries had been competing for these two archipelagos. In the end, the French won, occupied the Wallis and Futuna Islands in 1887 and 1888 respectively, and belonged to the French colony.

Traditional culture is prevalent on Wallis and Futuna Islands. Most of the houses of indigenous people are built on platforms made of soil. The surface is covered with coral pieces. The roof is paved with palm leaves. The compartment screens and lattice windows are woven with reed grass.

The volcanic scenery and tropical island scenery on the island are different from Europe, attracting many Europeans who come for vacation. The Lalala Lao Lake on the island is the most perfect circular crater lake in the world. British Navy Minister Churchill once took a cruise to visit and painted on the shore of Lalala Lao Lake, calling it "the place closest to the Garden of Eden."

The Dutch Aruba is an island located in the Caribbean Sea and is a colony of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its location is much worse and comparable to the above-mentioned islands.

In 1499, Aruba was discovered and occupied by Spain, seized by the Netherlands in 1636 and occupied by the Dutch West India Company. It was briefly ruled by Britain during the Napoleonic Wars and returned to the Netherlands in 1816.

Aruba is famous for its 10-kilometer continuous white sand beach and holiday houses by the sea, and is also known as the "Blue-green Coast". However, as a naval base, the conditions are much worse. It is neither as good as the Guantanamo base in Central America nor as good as Panama. It is just a big deal.

Another is St. Helena, the island in the United Kingdom, which is famous for exiling the French Emperor Napoleon. It is not far from Guinea, West Africa, and is easily accessible by near-shore ships.

The island is a port of call for the maritime routes between Europe and the East Indies, and belongs to the British East Indies Company. In 1673, the Dutch temporarily occupied the island, but was soon recaptured by the UK and belonged to the East Indies Company.

After the opening of the Suez Canal, the importance of the island dropped sharply and gradually became unattended.

The result of the court discussion is that two to three of the five Atlantic Islands mentioned above will be taken down as part of the improvement of the Royal Navy World Base Network, and it can also include islands in Central America and the Pacific. For example, the Andaman-Nicobar Islands exiting the northwest end of the Strait of Malacca are all possible choices.

As the empire with the most islands in the world, the Ocean Empire has nearly 30,000 islands and spread across six continents in the world. Li Fushou can be regarded as a king with island collection habits. That's really the better.

Now that the European war is in full swing, it is also the best time to make a deal.

After the matter was agreed, the ministers discussed several important matters in China. After reaching an agreement, the emperor made a conclusion and put it into practice.

The court suspension came to an end. The ministers bid farewell to the emperor and talked all the way to the Dongji Palace. They came outside the palace and took the crown car that had been waiting for here. They soon scattered.

The Red River Valley metropolis in March is sunny and warm.

The imperial city area with Daming Palace as the core is located in a lush forest. The three magnificent main halls are located at the foot of the mountain. The inner courtyard of the palace follows the mountain and enters the deep valley. The highest Lingxiao Pavilion stands on the top of the hill with flying eaves and brackets, which is spectacular.

The ancient trees here are towering, and the sun is full of flowers.

The entire imperial city area and its surroundings are the largest forest area of ​​the Red River Valley metropolis. Between the trees, there are pink walls and black tiles, and there are many noble houses. Every family who can live in this area is either rich or noble.

The residence of Minister of Foreign Affairs Li Sixian is also here. He was the royal secretary of the term "benevolence, righteousness, loyalty and virtuous". He worked with the emperor more than 20 years ago. Later, he was released as deputy director of the secretariat. He served as the Governor of Luzon, director of the Imperial Science and Technology Commission, deputy minister of industry, and deputy minister of foreign affairs. After Tang Shaoyi was transferred to the position of Minister of Finance, he took over his position as the foreign minister of this cabinet.

The car drove into the yard from the doorman, and the butler of the inner-domestic government came forward and opened the car door attentively.

Li Sixian got out of the car and looked a little tired. She handed the briefcase to Li Jia, the eldest son who came up to him, and told her, "Put the briefcase in the study and let someone make a pot of tea. Oh, and I'm really hungry if I give it a few more snacks."

"Father, why don't you eat a little early."

"No need for the time being. I want to take care of today's court affairs. Don't bother me."

"As for orders, father."

Li Jia followed his father to the study room in a regular manner. When he was about to reach the entrance of the study room, Li Sixian suddenly stopped, turned around and looked at his son thoughtfully and said, "I heard from your mother that you have established a film company with someone else recently. What's going on?"

"Report to my father, I have indeed had this matter. I haven't had time to report it to you yet," Li Jia admitted honestly, her eyes shrank and turned her father's face.

Li Sixian had no expression on her face. She stared at her eldest son who was nearly 30 years old for a while and said in a deep voice, "Go to the study to speak."
Chapter completed!